介紹

本章為在研究中使用的研究方法提供了一個基礎理論。最重要的對象確定后，接下來是一個詳細的評估，評估內容包括對使用的數據采集方法的選擇以及對獲得結果的處理。本章總結出研究的限制和確認進一步研究的領域。

研究目標

在不斷變化的英國社會中，工作場所的多樣性已成為如今的現狀。特許人事和發展協會將多樣性定義為：“重視每個人作為個體的多樣性——作為員工、客戶和用戶”（CIPD，2005）。因此，企業的多元化便是了解員工的各種能力，以及創造一個包容性的、讓員工感到備受激勵愿意全力以赴的文化。總體而言，本研究旨在探討在工作場所員工經驗和看法的多樣性，并專注于尊嚴和尊重。

介紹——Introduction
 

This chapter provides a rationale for the research methodology used within the study. Foremost the object of the research is identified after which follows a detailed evaluation of the choice of data collection methods used and how they were conducted along with results obtained. The chapter concludes with an account of the constraints of the research and identifies areas for further research.

 

研究目標——Research Objectives
 

In the changing demographics of British society, workplace diversity is today's reality. The CIPD defines diversity as "valuing everyone as individuals - as employees, customers, and clients" (CIPD, 2005). Diversity in business therefore is about understanding the various competences of employees and creating an inclusive culture in which they feel motivated and able to give of their best. Overall this study intends to examine employee's experiences and perceptions of diversity in the workplace focusing on dignity and respect. This will be achieved through focusing on the following research objectives:

 

Review literature on diversity management relating to dignity and respect

 

Survey and measure employee attitudes on dignity and respect within Council

 

Research dignity and respect at work initiatives within other Councils

 

From research, make feasible recommendations to build an inclusive culture providing dignity and respect to all

 

研究方法——Research Methodology
 

Sekaran and Bougie (2010) define business research as: "an organised, systematic, data-based, critical, objective, scientific inquiry or investigation into a specific problem, undertaken with the purpose of finding answers or solutions to it" (p. 3).#p#分頁標題#e#

 

In order to carry out this research project, the research process must be fully understood. A practical yet in-depth multi-method approach was engaged using available resources to achieve the objectives of the study and develop a conclusive set of recommendations. The main considerations for the choice of data collection methods, was the timescale available for the research project, the costs and resources available to the researcher. Given that the researcher was attempting to quantify the attitudes and perceptions of Council employees, a quantitative approach using a self-administered electronic questionnaire appeared to be the most appropriate approach. Maylor and Blackmon (2005) suggest that surveys are particularly beneficial in capturing facts, opinions attitudes and behaviours. However, whilst quantitative methods have advantages they also have disadvantages (Anderson, 2003; Crowther and Lancaster, 2009). In addition to quantifying employee perceptions the researcher also wished to give the respondents to opportunity to make any comments about questions or related issues. The researcher also wanted to delve deeper into line management attitudes and opinions therefore, this required a qualitative element to the research.

 

Consequently, a mixed-method approach was used for data collection. The main source of quantitative but qualitative data was also collected as part of the questionnaire and also from secondary data collected within the Council. As Sekaran and Bougie (2010)r suggest, data collection should be through multi-methods and from multiple sources. The reason for this being almost all data collection methods are biased in some way. In this research, a mixed-method approach was used to triangulate and cross-check the quantitative findings against the qualitative data. Triangulation is the process of cross-checking results of one research strategy with another and therefore strengthening results (Crowther and Lancaster, 2009; Maylor and Blackmon, 2005; Jankowicz, 2000). This gave the researcher a greater sense of credibility in that similar results gained from a variety of methods were more likely to be true and accurate (Sekaran and Bougie, 2010; Crowther and Lancaster, 2009). The downside of using a multi-method approach is that it is more time consuming.

 

In summary the researcher's approach to the research is as follows:

 

Preliminary framework built on the review theory from academic literature prior to the design of the questionnaires and structured interviews

 

Secondary sources of data utilised within Antrim Borough Council

 

Pilot questionnaires - questions restructured

 

Mainly quantitative electronic survey sent to 152 employees to collect their opinions and perceptions regarding diversity

 

Pilot interviews - interviewee requested not to be named in research#p#分頁標題#e#

 

Interviews - held with line managers to gain further in-depth responses, notes taken during interview to record key phrases and full record created immediately after interview

 

Survey - electronic survey used again to gather information from other Councils within the United Kingdom to ascertain diversity initiatives they had implemented

 

The last phase involved collating and analysing research to make conclusive recommendations for improvement

 

As mentioned in chapter one, this research involves a study of a Northern Ireland public sector local government organisation that is situated in the outskirts of Antrim town. As the study focused on this one organisation, research was conducted in the form of a case study.

 

數據采集方法——Data Collection Methods
 

Sekaran and Bougie (2010) outline the importance of using the right sources of information in the correct manner to collect data as this can have a huge positive or negative consequence on the effectiveness of the research obtained. Therefore detailed consideration was given to all research methods available.

 

As the purpose of this research was to investigate the researcher's work organisation intensively (a real-life context), a single case study approach was considered most suitable (Bryman and Bell, 2007; Anderson, 2004; Maylor and Blackmon, 2005). The case study provided a medium through which quantitative and qualitative methods could be combined.

 

The advantages of this method are that it generates open-ended, qualitative, rich and illuminating material, and allows the researcher to carry out in-depth research (Sekaran and Bougie, 2010). Access to information is another advantage but can also be a limitation as the researcher can be already influenced by the culture and practices of the organisation (Anderson, 2004). Disadvantages are that this method is time-consuming, there are usually only small samples of participants resulting in low population validity, people may be reluctant to talk and cover up their behaviour or be unaware of their behaviour.

 

As the predominant research strategy is quantitative, the case study takes a deductive approach to the relationship between theory and research (Anderson, 2004; Maylor and Blackmon, 2005). The external validity is restricted using the case study approach as the findings cannot usually be applied generally to other cases (Bryman and Bell, 2007). However, the purpose of the research is to investigate the issue within Council, and not to generalise to other cases.

 

調查問卷——Questionnaire
 

Given that the research involved attempting to quantify the employee attitudes and perceptions a quantitative approach using a self-administered questionnaire appeared to be the most suitable approach. Questionnaires are the most common method used to collect primary data (Sekaran and Bougie, 2010; Crowther and Lancaster, 2009). Sekaran and Bougie (2010) propose that questionnaires "obtain data more efficiently in terms of research time, energy and costs" (pg. 185). The main advantage for the research was the efficient collection of data from a large sample in a limited timeframe with little cost. Also, the questionnaire method allows for easy statistical analysis of a range of factors and anonymity of respondents can be assured which was a huge requirement for respondents. As Townend (2008) suggests, employee surveys should allow "anonymity to individuals and thereby reducing the fear of consequences of a formal grievance". Also, as Maylor and Blackmon (2005) note, respondents are more likely to be honest in their answers if surveys are anonymous. The survey used the questionnaire as the main vehicle for collecting data.#p#分頁標題#e#

 

The disadvantages of this method were fully considered such as respondents may not use the researcher's given definitions, responses can be constrained by the questionnaire format, respondents may not remember certain situations accurately, and it has generally a lower response rate than other methods such as interviews (Sekaran and Bougie, 2010; Maylor and Blackmon, 2005). However after consideration, the researcher felt that the advantages outweighed the disadvantages, and the design of the questionnaire was planned in great detail so as to limit the constraints of this method. As recommended by Sekaran and Bougie (2010) the design of the questionnaire focused on three key areas: wording of the questions, appearance of the questionnaire and the analysis of responses. The wording of the questions were simple, clear and appropriate so that all levels of staff could understand. Also, definitions of terms used within the survey were given to ensure that everyone understood the meanings. The questionnaire was used as part of the survey and it was important to ensure that questions were clear in order to minimise biased responses (Sekaran and Bougie, 2010; Anderson, 2004). The construction of questions was informed by the literature. The questionnaire had structured questions with set answers in order to gain responses.

 

In addition to quantifying attitudes and perceptions, the researcher also wished to give respondents the opportunity to make any comments at the end of the survey. As a consequence of this, a mixed-method approach was taken to gathering the questionnaire data (Maylor and Blackmon, 2005). Although the main data gathering approach was quantitative, qualitative data was also used at the end of the questionnaire and other qualitative evidence was collected from the Council. As Bryman and Bell (2007) notes, there are many advantages gained in combining quantitative and qualitative research methods.

 

Closed questions were used thoughout to allow the respondent to make quick decisions and also allowed the research to be analysed easily. Demographic questions were asked at the end of the survey to help the researcher describe sample characteristics and identify any trends by particular groups within the research. As suggested by Sekaran and Bougie (2010) the funnelling approach was used which involved asking general easier questions at the start of the survey and leading on to more difficult questions towards the end. As open ended questions generally go unanswered, these were left to the end of the survey allowing those people who had comments to make to do so. These questions were marked as optional and were not compulsory. In order to obtain as accurate responses as possible the survey did not include any questions that required distant recall. Any recall questions asked the respondents to base their answer in the last two years of employment.

 

As the Council has a well established IT culture, the researcher designed the questionnaire using a software package called Surveymonkey. It was also designed and published to be completed online through a secure Internet web link. The advantages of using an electronic survey is that it is visually attractive, can analyse responses and is easy to administer and is very inexpensive. The added advantage is that respondents can answer at their convenience and responses can be achieved within a limited timeframe. However, the main disadvantage is that computer literacy and access to a computer are required. As some of Council's workforce do not have access to email, all questionnaires could not be completed electronically. Therefore hard copies of the survey were distributed to line managers of those staff and were also available on request from the Council's Human Resources Section. Finally to maximise participation in the questionnaire, the survey was designed to be completed in five to ten minutes.#p#分頁標題#e#

 

其它英國議會的調查問卷——Questionnaire to other UK Councils
 

Since research results should be characterised by both internal and external reliability and validity, an electronic survey was developed and sent to a random sample of 15 Councils through the UK. The objectives of this structured quantitative research method, was to explore and give opportunity to collect ordinal data regarding diversity initiatives being implemented. Every effort was made to overcome the problem of validity with questions including a pilot-test to 3 other Council organisations. The results of this pilot-test were good which gave the researcher the assurance that questions were properly structured, focused and phrased.

 

采訪——Interviews
 

Structured interviews were chosen as the researcher knew the information required at the outset which had been identified from the literature review. The main purpose of the unstructured interview as literature suggests is to explore and probe into broad problem areas (Sekaran and Bougie, 2010). Sekaran and Bougie (2010) also suggest that there will be better communication between both parties if the respondent understands the purpose of the research and how they were chosen to be interviewed. Therefore the purpose was explained to all interviewees and how their contribution would help to action an improvement plan for Council and working life.

 

Moreover using this qualitative method meant that flexibility was introduced within each interview. The main questions to be asked were answered, but there was the chance for the interviewee to open up into new areas that may be of importance to the subject. The opportunity as well arises to identify any non-verbal clues that the interviewee might give unknowingly (Easterby-Smith, Thorpe and Lowe, 2002). This could take the form of facial expressions or the change in tone of voice. The advantage of the interview over the questionnaire is that intentions behind the questions can be given to the interviewee, and the meaning of items can be amplified in a way that is not possible with the questionnaire (Jankowicz, 2000). Sekaran and Bougie (2010) highlight the importance of collecting data from various sources and by various methods, as information obtained from respondents or self-report data can be biased. Collecting data from various sources ensures that this bias is minimised.

 

The structured interview comprised a short series of open ended questions in order to gain information from the manager. Each participant was asked to answer identical questions, but the order of the questions was not fixed as this could have detracted from the flow of the interview. Also, line manager respondents were asked to reflect on behaviour during the previous two year period, rather than to reflect on their 'general behaviour'. Third, line managers may view/rate their own patterns of behaviour 'in general terms' more positively than others might do.#p#分頁標題#e#

 

All attempts to reduce bias by the interviewee and interviewer were taken. The researcher was careful to phrase questions in an unbiased manner to obtain useful responses. Sekaran and Bougie (2010) define bias as "errors or inaccuracies in the data collected" (p. 189). As the researcher was an employee of the Council, trust and rapport were apparent. The researcher listened attentively to the interviewee to keep their interest throughout the interview and to motivate them to respond. Another disadvantage was that respondents may not wish to divulge personal information to the researcher, so anonymonity was assured to prevent this. The interviews were not recorded as requested by management which meant the interviewer had to try to record the key points of the interview. Interviews were held in a meeting room instead of the manager's office so that there would be no interruptions to distract the interviewee. The researcher did not influence responses in any way or distort information received. The researcher conducted all interviews so that the same questions were asked to everyone in the same manner. The disadvantage of the interview method is that it is very time consuming, which is why only 10 line managers were interviewed. The cost in manager's time was also an important consideration in choosing the sample size. However, valuable information was gained despite the constraints.

 

Using this inductive approach, the analysis of the interviews is mostly qualitative, with the interviews used to understand line managers' perceptions and canvas individual opinion on their effectiveness. Consideration of the data and patterns found was used in conjunction with academic theory to try to explain the findings and answer the research objectives posed at the start of this chapter. This qualitative data is open-ended rich and illuminating, it explores respondents' working experience, the method is inductive rather than deductive, and it enables the researcher to explore questions in more depth.

 

The random samples (obtained electronically) were drawn from those managers who had line management responsibilities and ranged from full-time and part-time across all grades. The following staff were excluded from the research: agency staff, student placements and staff groups that had contracts with the Council, but were managed by an outside organisation.

 

試點測試——PILOT TEST
 

Gavino, Eber and Bell (2010) suggest that "a pilot study should be conducted to test for reactions, concerns, and clarity" (p. 401). Bryman and Bell (2007) states that pilot tests are particularly important for self-completion questionnaires as there is no interviewer present to clear up any ambiguity or confusion. Pilot testing also known as pre-testing was conducted for the questionnaire survey which involved 10 employees completing the survey to ensure the questions presented no ambiguity. These 10 Council employees were selected at random and were from different departments and were a mixture of senior management, line management, technical and administrative staff.#p#分頁標題#e#

 

The pilot group identified issues with two of the questions, in that the answers would not be known by the employees. Also, regarding the questions on individual demographics, the pilot revealed a concern that the job status question could lead to individual's identity being revealed. As a result the job status groups were changed to include more general groups: staff, line management and senior management instead. The findings from the pilot resulted in the modification of the questionnaire to ensure clear clarity of questions. This helped rectify any problems before the questionnaire was administered and thus helped reduce any bias (Sekaran and Bougie, 2010). Overall respondent reactions to the questionnaire were good and they felt that the research topic was very worthwhile.

 

Regarding the structured interviews, questions were again piloted to a random selection of respondents from various departments. The only issue arising from the pilot was the issue of confidentiality. Managers did not wish to be named in the research or have their responses recorded.

 

數據分析——DATA ANALYSIS
 

調查問卷——Questionnaire
 

Online survey questionnaires links were emailed to 149 Council employees (not including casual workers, agency workers or work placement students). Survey respondents came from a range of departments and sections and represented different levels of age, seniority, gender and backgrounds.

 

In addition a further 73 hard copies of the survey questionnaires were also distributed to line managers of those staff who did not have access to email. A total of 116 usable replies were received, comprising 31 paper questionnaires and 85 electronic questionnaires. This gave an overall response rate of 52.2%. The sample reflects the female-dominated nature of the workforce, as only a quarter of the respondents were male.

 

Nominal data was requested on respondents age, gender, job status etc. Then ordinal data questions were used which were based on a rating scale similar to the Likert scale. Respondents had to score their level of satisfaction with a statement. The researcher took out the middle category of the Likert scale (neither agree nor disagree) as it was suggested by senior management that people often ticked this category when they didn't want to answer or think about a question.

 

In total the questionnaire included 27 questions exploring employees experiences, attitudes and perceptions. When the questionnaires were completed the answers were calculated for each item separately and based on the score obtained from each of the responses. In order to get a clearer picture of the responses, the score of strongly agree is combined with agree, and strongly disagree combined with disagree, then the final analysis is made on the basis of these scores.#p#分頁標題#e#

 

The data from the survey is gathered according to the sections of the questionnaire so that each section can indicate the trends about the issue that is being discussed in it. For example section 5 comprises questions about bullying and harassment, whereas the next section focuses on quality of support.

 

采訪——Interviews
 

A pseudo random sample for interviewing was used. This random sample is one where each individual of the population has equal chances of being selected (Crowther and Lancaster, 2009). The researcher produced a sampling frame which was a list of line managers and their names were electronically selected at random.

 

反饋率——Response Rates
 

To maintain the strictest confidentiality, the questionnaires were not given out and collected. They were distributed by email so employees could complete online. However, as some of the workforce did not have access to email, hard copies of the questionnaire were distributed to those workers line managers. Employees could then complete and return to any Talkback box located around the Council sites. This helped to achieve a high response rate and ensured that all employees could easily participate in the survey. The response rate for completion of the survey in hard copy format was 42.4% and 57% for the online version of the survey.

 

For the online survey emailed to 15/ 20 other UK based Council organisations, 9 responses were received which achieved a response rate of 45%. This poorer response rate was mainly due to many local government organisations policy not to answer research surveys due to the high volume of enquiries they get.

 

有效性和可靠性——Validity and Reliability
 

Sekaran and Bougie (2010) suggest that "once data is obtained, the goodness of data should be assessed through tests of validity and reliability (p. 205).

 

In the design of the research approach, the research considered the following:

 

Internal validity - This was increased through the use of multiple sources of evidence, questionnaires (both closed and open questions) and semi-structured interviews. Also the survey and interviews were pilot tested to ensure that the questions were understood as intended.

 

External validity - Other Council organisations were asked to participate in a survey giving information on their practices and procedures

 

Reliability - Questions derived from literature in order to examine case study. Interviews to back up the survey and obtain views from a wider group. Questionnaires all administered at the same time and in a controlled manner and explanations provided to ensure participants all understood research in the same way.#p#分頁標題#e#

 

The main reason for choosing the case study method was that it could be supported by other methods as part of a triangulation approach. Thus, any finding or conclusion in a case study is likely to be much more convincing and accurate if it is based on several different sources of information. In this manner, the potential problems of construct validity can also be addressed, due to the multiple sources of evidence essentially providing multiple measures of the same phenomenon (Maylor and Blackmon, 2005).

 

程序——PROCEDURES
 

研究倫理——Research Ethics
 

Sekaran and Bougie (2010) define ethics in business research as "a code of conduct or expected societal norm of behaviour while conducting research" (p. 15). This ethical conduct applies to the researcher, the respondents and the research organisation at every step of the research process. The research was undertaken in accordance with the ethical guidelines of the University of Ulster, Jordanstown and the Business School Ethics Review Form covers the main ethical points and can be found in Appendix A. The survey questionnaire and interview questions have been designed to examine employee opinions and perceptions of dignity and respect at work. No confidential customer information is required. Even so, this has been highlighted in the review form. This is because confidential information could be discussed in the interviews and also commented upon in the open ended questions in the survey. This information will not be included in a way which will breach confidentiality.

 

The main priority for the researcher was to treat all data collected as strictly confidential (Sekaran and Bougie, 2010). Respondents were advised in the memo sent out in the survey email inviting respondents to complete the survey, that all results would remain confidential and this was again emphasised in the survey itself. Survey participants were provided with a written description of the purpose, scope and intended outcomes of the research. The importance of being truthful and honest in responses was also explained to respondents (Sekaran and Bougie, 2010).

 

數據保護——Data Protection
 

Data was stored in accordance with the Data Protection Act. Respondent results and analysis were stored in a locked cupboard within the Human Resources Section of Antrim Borough Council, and only the researcher had a key.

 

時間刻度與資源——Timescale and Resources
 

The main resource required for this project is the researcher's time. Employer support was given to carry out the research, however the researcher had to work with the employer to devise Council approved questions. This approvals process took much longer than anticipated and many drafts of the surveys were completed. Approval was also given to conduct the surveys and interviews during work time. The collating and analysing of results and writing up of the project was conducted in the researcher's spare time. Resources available to the researcher were email/internet facilities and copying facilities.#p#分頁標題#e#

 

研究局限性——Limitations of Research
 

The major shortcomings in the research lies in the 'self-selecting'nature of the survey i.e. research participants are self reporting their experience of dignity and respect. Another weakness is that the research could not gain access to those who did not volunteer their experiences. To try to get round this senior management approval for the research was obtained, and management were asked by the Assistant Director of Human Resources to actively encourage employees to complete it. However, no-one was forced to complete the survey. Another weakness is the subjective nature of experiences and bias that could have affected results. However, all actions to minimise bias were taken by the researcher.

 

Another limitation was the researcher's access to interview line managers - only two days were made available by the Council for interviews with line managers. This meant that each interview had to be structured in the best way to obtain all information required. Also, as it took much longer than anticipated for management to approve the research questions therefore the time for analysis was limited.

 

進一步研究領域——Areas for further research
 

The data will provide an opportunity to assess perceptions of diversity over time and therefore help a diagnosis of the situation in the future. Further employee attitude surveys will need to be conducted every few years, for example every 3 years to enable benchmarking to take place. An extensive survey on bullying and harassment could also be undertaken in the future to gain in-depth information.

 

This research shows how a mixed methods research approach was able to reveal much more than could have been obtained from one approach, by collecting evidence from both employees and line managers using research methods suited to each one. The only downside of employing a mixed method approach was that it may have diluted the research effort in any area, since resources have to be spread (Crowther and Lancaster, 2009).

 

Paper questionnaires were manually added to the

 

online data. The survey achieved a 40.9% response rate, which is similar to the

 

2003 Work Foundation survey (42%). This is a good response rate considering

 

the University was undergoing the final stages of the implementation of the Reward

 

project when the survey was launched and during the period the survey was open.

 

We thank all staff who took time to share their opinions and views.

 

Survey data regarding stigmatized or deeply personal feelings or activities are often inaccurate. Participants often avoid answers which they feel society, the survey-takers, or they themselves dislike. Studies with random samples containing sufficient numbers of representatives of small sexual minorities are expensive to do. Hence, most studies rely on volunteers who are willing to talk about their sex life, but who do not necessarily reflect the general population.#p#分頁標題#e#